The California Department of Transportation began a damaging and unnecessary
project to widen Highway 84 through Niles Canyon along Alameda Creek, supposedly
for road safety. This controversial project would have actually made the
canyon more dangerous for drivers and cyclists, wasted $76 million in public
funds, degraded important trout habitat in Alameda Creek and jeopardized
a decade of restoration efforts, blighted a designated scenic highway and
ruined the natural beauty of Niles Canyon.

Caltrans initially proposed three phases of a road widening project for
much of Niles Canyon Road between Fremont and Interstate 680, with 12-foot
lanes, 2-foot median and 8-foot shoulders throughout the canyon. This would
require cutting 600 trees along Alameda Creek and filling the creek and
floodplain with four miles of cement retaining walls and rip-rap to accommodate
wide roadway shoulders. It would damage habitat for steelhead trout, Alameda
whipsnakes and red-legged frogs and remove rare sycamore forest.

Caltrans did not focus on localized problem areas or evaluate simple solutions
within the existing roadway such as signal lights, radar speed signs, median
barriers or additional rumble strips. Caltrans internally “approved”
phase one of the project in 2006 without alerting the public that it had
been finalized. Caltrans filed a “Negative Declaration,” claiming no
significant environmental impacts, rather than the required Environmental
Impact Report for a project with significant impacts. Caltrans cut nearly
150 trees in the canyon in spring of 2011, over the protests of local residents.

The Alameda Creek Alliance filed suit challenging the inadequate environmental review, winning a court order halting construction in June 2011 and a settlement agreement from Caltrans in December 2011 requiring them to abandon the first phase of the project. An Alameda Superior Court judge excoriated the agency’s clandestine project approval and obstruction of the public process. In January 2012 Caltrans agreed to restart the environmental review and public comment process for phases one and two of the project. After a July 2012 Federal Highway Administration Road Safety Assessment rejected Caltrans’ proposed highway widening approach, Caltrans promised a “clean slate” and pledged to consider all FHA recommendations before meeting with stakeholders and the public to develop new revised projects and a new environmental review process.

The FHA proposed several dozen immediate measures within the existing roadway
that can be quickly and inexpensively implemented to reduce vehicle collisions,
and site-specific projects for five priority locations in Niles Canyon to
reduce accidents.

As of early 2015, Caltrans is now proposing four scaled-back
safety improvement projects in Niles Canyon:

1) Alameda Creek Bridge Replacement Project
The draft Environmental Impact Report for the project was released in January
2015. Construction is scheduled for 2017-2018. The project would replace
and upgrade the Alameda Creek Bridge, and realign the eastern and western
approaches to the bridge. It would require significant cut and fill, installation
of large retaining walls, and cutting 300-400 native trees.

2) Niles Canyon Minor Safety Improvements Project
The project is currently in design, with construction scheduled for 2015-2016.
The project will conduct various minor safety improvements in Niles Canyon
recommended by the FHA; all improvements will be made on paved surfaces,
with negligible environmental impacts, and off-pavement work will not be
authorized.

3) Niles Canyon Medium-Term Safety Improvements Project
The project is currently in the environmental phase. The draft environmental
document is expected sometime in 2015, construction is anticipated for 2017-2018.
The project will conduct various FHA-recommended safety improvements at
including the installation of rock drapery systems, curve correction, and
the addition of spot shoulder widening and guard railing.

4) Arroyo de la Laguna Bridge Improvement
The project is in the early planning stages and is expected to begin the
environmental phase in winter of 2015. The project proposes to widen the
bridge on Highway 84, near the town of Sunol, by three feet. Widening will
be done to the extent feasible without adding any additional substructures.

Take
Action: Tell Caltrans that replacing and upgrading
the Alameda Creek Bridge does not require overbuilt roadway approaches and
the bridge segment can be made safer without massive cut-and-fill or removing
hundreds of trees.